CLAREMONT — The City Council unanimously approved a $19.8 million budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 on Wednesday.
The budget approval on Wednesday came after the council debated, and ultimately decided against, adding $100,000 to the welfare budget. In the last few years a supplemental appropriation was needed during the year because of an increase in expenses, which by law have to be paid.
“We should bite the bullet and acknowledge what we have to pay for,” Councilor William Greenrose said in arguing for adding the $100,000. “If it is going to happen, just do it.”
Assistant Mayor Deb Matteau agreed. She would rather put the money in the budget now instead of waiting until the middle of the year to fund it.
On the other side of the argument was Councilor Nick Koloski who did not want to add the money and increase the tax rate. Koloski said there should be other ways to raise the money, including using proceeds from the sale of tax-deeded properties.
The budget the council ultimately approved represents a 1.4%, or $281,000, increase from the current year.
It is projected to decrease the city portion of the tax rate by 6 cents to $10.81 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That translates into a $15 decrease in annual property taxes on a property assessed at $250,000.
Initially, Bates and Wilmot had projected a 24 cent increase in the municipal tax rate.
The budget the council approved was reduced by nearly $355,000 from the $20.2 million budget proposed in May by interim co-city managers Finance Director Nancy Bates and Police Chief Brent Wilmot.
The biggest reductions from the proposed budget were $112,000 to support the community center; $80,000 for police; $64,000 for the Parks and Recreation Department; and $50,000 for planning and development.
In their letter to the council introducing the budget, Bates and Wilmot said chalked up the majority of the increase to the rising costs of employee benefits, including a nearly 6% jump in health insurance, and higher expenses for workers compensation and unemployment compensation. There also are pay increases for three of the city’s five collective bargaining units.
There is new funding in the budget for a new police office position and a part-time human resources specialist. Estimated non-tax revenues for the next fiscal year are pegged at $6.9 million, an increase of about $80,000 from the current year.
In addition to the the $355,000 cut from the original budget proposal, the tax rate decrease is being driven by a reduction in the “overlay” money set aside to pay for any tax abatements, Mayor Dale Girard said.
For the current fiscal year the overlay is $400,000 but a small portion of that was used for abatements, so for the next fiscal year beginning July 1 the figure has been reduced to about $75,000.
There is $250,000 of overlay in a liability account to cover a potential abatement in an ongoing tax case with Eversource and the value of its equipment in Claremont, Bates said.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclm@gmail.com.
